March Madness Turns To Just Plain Mad in August

[DOUGHBOYS]

We're at that time of the year where just about any drop would be deemed acceptable. I'm not talking Trout, Cabrera, or Davis, players who are carrying their teams to greatness.
I'm talking of players that were thought a lot of before the season, who just haven't pulled their weight during the season.
Here is an All Star NFBC team of players not surprised to be dropped:

C- JP Arencibia
C- John Buck
Owners of these two catchers were crowing in April and part of May.
Then, reality set in.
Buck will be losing time to d'arnaud.
Arencibia will be fighting a battle with Ramiro Mendoza.

1B- Adam Laroche
Laroche is hitting lower than Adam Dunn. He has two more homers and three more rbi than Mark Reynolds.
Reynolds has already been dropped in real baseball. A Laroche dropping in fantasy would have the same effect. A yawn.

2B- Ian Kinsler
It is almost September. Ian Kinsler has no dl time. Yet, Ian Kinsler has 10 homers and eight stolen bases.
Worse, since April ended, he has had five homers and five stolen bases in four months!
Jordy Mercer has as many homers as Kinsler over the last four months.
DJ LaMehieu had as many steals in a month as Kinsler has had this year.
I didn't draft Kinsler when the Rangers traded his good friend, Michael Young. But there is more here than just missing a good friend or player. Kinsler has played like going through the motions. That's not like him.
Streaming a 2b may have been a better proposition for Kinsler owners.

3B- Michael Young
Young owners are facing the fact that Michael Young is Todd Helton with more at bats.
Not a great thing.

SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
I was thinking of a possible 20-20 season for Cabrera. It's almost September and he hasn't even reached 10-10.
Cabrera is no longer a third hitter. Cleveland is just now realizing that.
He's at the same point of his career as Jhonny Peralta was.
Will he make the same decision?

MI- Starlin Castro
Everybody always predicts more growth for young successful players. Castro is a reminder that that is not always so.
Castro has been a bonehead this year. There are times when he hasn't hustled, but worse for fantasy owners, there are times when he shows he doesn't care.
This is a problem at every level.
Castro's brain would be worth a dollar less than Hanley Ramirez at a Mayo Clinic Yard Sale.
And this is the third yard sale they've attempted a sale. Nobody's buying.

CI- David Freese
The Cards have pretty much benched him in real life.
If still holding on to him, you are a believer that playoff and World Series stats count and that Freese will again rise and be a force then.

OF- Michael Morse
It's a lost year. David DeJesus has more rbi.
I've had him mostly on my bench for the last couple of weeks, asking myself why I still have him.

OF- Josh Reddick
Human nature will not allow anybody that owns Josh Reddick to drop him.
We're suckers.
If we see lightning strike, we look at the place where it struck half thinking it'll happen again.
These half-thinking thoughts will have Reddick owners clutching to him, hoping for lightning to strike again.
Good luck with that.

OF- BJ Upton
The only reason owners have held this long is because of the 'value' perceived in where he was taken in drafts.
His real team may be starting to platoon him. That's an expensive platoon player they just bought.
They can't let go of him.
We can.

OF- Nick Swisher
Swisher has stats that are on par with Justin Smoak. Yet, he is hitting close to 30 points under Smoak in batting average.
Swisher always looks like he's having fun on a baseball field.
His owners aren't sharing in that fun.
His owners are missing the friendly right field porch of Yankee Stadium and making notes not to draft him next year.

OF- Denard Span
Is there something lower than a judy?
Span has transformed himself into a zero category player. That's tough to do while still maintaining at bats.
Way to go, Denard!

U- Chase Headley
I've tried to avoid players that were hurt, but I'll make an exception in Headley's case. Simply because his owners would have been better served by injuries keeping him out for the year.
Headley's line drives this year have been accidents. His presence give the Padres and his owners hope in the middle of the lineup.
That hope is always turned to grief.
Headley has less homers than Luis Valbuena. A batting average lower than Ed Lucas. Steals less than fellow Chase, Utley.
A trifecta of failure.

We thought so much of these players in March. That Madness has turned into just plain being mad at these players.
I'm thinking of dropping Headley next week. I gave him the 'One more chance, Mister, then you're out the door' speech.
I don't think it'll work.

Pitchers tomorrow......

[Edwards Kings]

OF- Denard Span
Is there something lower than a judy?
Span has transformed himself into a zero category player. That's tough to do while still maintaining at bats.
Way to go, Denard!

I would have to go to golf for an appropriate analogy...like when you leave a putt short...Span is an "Alice".

[rockitsauce]

OF- Denard Span
Is there something lower than a judy?
Span has transformed himself into a zero category player. That's tough to do while still maintaining at bats.
Way to go, Denard!

I would have to go to golf for an appropriate analogy...like when you leave a putt short...Span is an "Alice".

My uncle Jimbo used to call it a "Suzy"....I think I like his better cuz it's like Judy

[Navel Lint]

OF- Denard Span
Is there something lower than a judy?
Span has transformed himself into a zero category player. That's tough to do while still maintaining at bats.
Way to go, Denard!

I would have to go to golf for an appropriate analogy...like when you leave a putt short...Span is an "Alice".

My uncle Jimbo used to call it a "Suzy"....I think I like his better cuz it's like Judy

It's always been Alliss to me

[DOUGHBOYS]

We don't drop Starting Pitchers as we would hitters. A hitter can deserve a ticket to faab by not hitting the ball every day for three weeks. During that same span, a Starter may only get four times to show what he can do.
Truth is, we hold onto Starters longer than we should or not long enough.
That's our game.

This won't be a post of how we can drop a Starter because he's no good.
Heck, any Major Leaguer that blows, can reel off seven good starts. Just look at Ivan Nova and what he's done his last seven starts.
Pitchers are like kickers in football. When they are good in the head, they are good on the field. Their arms and legs get the credit.
So, let's go over the most disappointing pitchers that didn't claim injury. Fellas we thought highly of in March, who look like later picks next year.

Phil Hughes.
Hughes has four wins this year.
Four.
Worse, he has 105 strike outs. That is one more than Joe Blanton.
That's right. The same Joe Blanton whose Mom works as a lunch lady.
Right now, there is more life in Howard Hughes, than there is in a Phil Hughes fastball.

Ian Kennedy.
Kennedy also has four wins this year.
Then got traded to a team who will support him even less.
Owners of Kennedy live through an assassination attempt on their pitching ratios every five days.

Jerome Hellickson.
Through the grace of God and Joe Maddon shifts, Hellickson has 10 wins.
He doesn't deserve them.
He has an E.R.A. close to 5 and he is also close to the Blanton grouping in strike outs.
At one time, an NFBC member was enamored enough to give Hellickson the nickname of 'HellBoy'.
His owners have other names for him.

Dan Haren.
Anybody that drafted him would think back to the old days of when he was dominant.
Those were the days.
Now, he's as good on your roster as Dan Tanna.
Haren can be seen every Wednesday at 4 pm, eating dinner at Golden Corral.

Wily Peralta.
Peralta is like Ubaldo Jimenez only without the great seasons.
I guess that makes Peralta not too good.
He needs Acme rockets for his fastball.

Ubaldo Jimenez.
The great seasons are over.
Great name though.
There are not many ' U.J.' initials in baseball and between his two names, he uses every vowel.
Problem being that even Vanna White may stand a chance in hitting his straight fastball.

Ryan Dempster.
The shorter his suspension, the more the Red Sox are hurt.
Dempster has caught Dan Haren in the fading race.
He'll be known as the guy who hit ARod.
Lost, is that everybody is hitting Dempster.

CC Sabathia.
You know it's coming right?
The joke of the off season.
Here it is- Sabathia will go from being an ace to an, here it comes,... an Innings Eater!
You know cuz he...Oh c'mon, that's funny and you know it.
Only one thing is for sure, when CC Sabathia shows up at Spring Training, Sabathia will have lost 20-30 pounds.
It's a RotoWorld Classic.
Over the last 10 years, Sabathia has lost 200-300 pounds.
Next year, he'll gain it back, eating innings.....